The Twilight Princess
by Jai-is-awesome
Summary: They say it's foolish for a Twilight to believe in fairy tales. But that doesn't stop Nic from sharing the story of the twilight princess with his children. If there's anything for them to believe in, it's her, and she might be right there in Ergastulum.
1. Prologue

Chapter 1

"Hey, wait a second. Raven!" Shevon leaned outside of the window, gripping the seel hard until her knuckles turned white. She watched as the young teen dashed down the road and out of sight. She didn't even have time to make breakfast, and he was already out of the apartment.

Strange.

For weeks, he'd been leaving early in the morning without any explanation. She hadn't been able to ask him about his whereabouts because when he was home; he was always closed off in his room, and she wasn't the type to just barge in on a teenager like that. He could've be doing anything.

Sighing, she gently pushed her upper half back inside and landed on her feet with a low thud.

Like his father; Raven was so nonchalant and aloof with his ways, it was extremely difficult to tell what he was thinking. She couldn't help but be worried because of how some view people like him. Especially if he was to run into a Corsican. For his age, he had a high ranking, but his overall skills and accuracy in combat were severely lacking. That's one thing he didn't get from his father.

She felt a heavy hand brush against the top of her head, and she looked up to see a pair of dark eyes gazing down at her. His lips curved into a slight smirk as his fingers rustled through her thick, mahogany brown coils. She gave him a small smile; but before she could open her mouth to speak, he had her underneath her pits and hoisted her high up towards the ceiling.

A series of giggles escaped from her lips, and she held onto his shoulders for dear life. Knowing he wouldn't dare drop her.

"Nico! Put me down!" She cried in between giggles.

Giving her a sly smile, he brought her down just enough to plant a kiss fully on her plump lips. She loved how his smooth lips felt against her, but his kisses were anything but gentle. Even the simple pecks were filled with such raw emotion, it was... daunting.

The kiss lasted for a mere two minutes then he lowered her down to eye level and she wrapped her short legs around his torso. Wrapping her toned arms around his neck and running her dainty fingers through his jet black hair, she looked deep into his eyes and sighed as heat rushed to her cheeks. He couldn't say it with words, but his eyes told it all.

 _I love you._

She didn't want to mess up their moment because Nicolas had to be in an ecstatic mood to even show her this much affection. But he needed to know what was going on with Raven.

"Eh, bae. Raven, uh, left again. Without saying anything." She chose her words carefully. It was too early for him to be getting riled up, and she didn't want to spoil it with stories about their suspicious son.

He looked at her with expressionless eyes and loosened his grip on her tight waist. Nicolas had a very lenient way of parenting. The only lesson he instilled in him were the Three Laws; though he didn't care for them himself, he was sure he wasn't out there getting into too much trouble. Or at least he hoped.

He just shook his head lightly, letting her know not to worry too much about him. She trusted his judgement on everything except for when it came to their children. Besides, they didn't have the best father-son relationship.

"I dunno Nico. I'm still worried." She lowered her eyes a bit and spoke softly, "I mean, what if he has a run in with the Corsica family? You know how those people feel about Tags."

He let out a low gruff and cocked his left eyebrow. Of course he expected him to be able to defend himself if the need arises; and he couldn't keep an eye on him all the time, like she wanted. Not with his handyman work. He had to go out and make a living since she was house ridden.

She jerked a bit at the sound of a high pitched cry coming from downstairs. She jumped out of his arms and headed down the steps taking two at a time and slammed the door shut behind her.

He blinked a few times, rubbing the back of his neck, and went over to the desk to retrieve the book he had been reading. He went back over to the window and caught a glimpse of a dark haired woman in the back alleyway with a man with boyishly light hair. Though he couldn't hear the commotion; he knew she was being berated by him...again


	2. It's on!

**A/N:** This is the first chapter. Flashbacks will be italicized and tell a different tale. Let me kn0w what you think. Also the only thing I own are the

original characters. Everything else belongs to the creators.

 _Sigh._

 _So this is what it's like; to be near the end._

 _My breathing's hard, limbs numb, arms heavy, and my vision. My vision is...blurry. No wait, that's because of the sun. It's high in the sky, shining bright. But I'm in the shadows behind buildings and such. This is a back alleyway; or at least, I think it is.._

 _I tried to lift myself up, but I can't. I just can't. I'm tired, so fucking tired. But why? I don't understand this at all. My stomach was tight, like a billion tiny knots that were impossible to untie. There's a sharp pain that shot from my temple and went all the way down to my toes._

 _Flies were buzzing around me. I want to swat them away; but again, my arms are just too heavy to lift. Something lands on my dry cheek. It's hot but I wasn't sweating. Something's not right; things just weren't right._

 _So this is what it's like to die. All alone behind buildings that were probably empty. Is this how my life's supposed to end? In Ergastulum. Why did I even come here if this is how things were going to end? The story of my short life, and it sucks. It sucks so bad._

 _My eyes twitch a couple of times as flies continued to land on my face. My fingers barely make so much as a wiggle. As the sun begins to fade above me, the sounds of birds chirping and dogs barking suddenly disappear._

 _The only thing I can hear is my heartbeat._

 _Thump tha thump tha thump._

 _It's still steady, but it's only a matter of time before it slows down and stops completely._

 _This is it. I'm really going to die. Just like Momma and Papa. I'll be joining them soon; and hopefully then, I'll be happy. I'll be at peace._

 _Wait a minute, something's blocking the sun. It's...kinda tall, a bit stocky, with extremely light hair. Is it a man? Nah, it couldn't be. I'm supposed to be dead, remember? Who would save a monster like me?_

The streets of Ergastulum were quiet; well, the back streets at least. As a Twilight, Raven knew better than to take the main roads. In regards to the Three Laws; the few Normals he encountered, the better.

With his hands deep inside his pockets; his movements were brisk, and his footsteps against the cobblestone were heavy. His feet were a bit too small for his father's combat boots, but they were the only pair he could get his hands on. The cool September wind stung his light brown skin, causing his breathing to become erratic. He was so cold-blooded; it was miserable. He'd rather be at home underneath a snug blanket drinking a cup of his mother's double hot chocolate. But he couldn't miss his meeting with Gina.

Keeping his eyes towards the ground whenever he'd pass by someone, he'd instantly speed up his walk just a tad bit. He didn't want anyone to recognize him, and he really didn't want to run into anyone who was familiar with his father.

He turned a couple of corners; his arms pressed against his thin frame to keep his body temperature from dropping. Sometimes, he wondered if his susceptibility to the cold weather was due to his frail physique. He'd been told countless times by his mother and Worrick that his father used to be the same size when he was his age. But he couldn't imagine him being anywhere near as small as him.

Nicolas was tall; well taller than him, and his body was much more robust with highly developed muscles. The only hardness to him was his ribs, and the tiny muscles that ran along his bony arms and legs looked as if they were about to pop out of his skin. Yeah, he had his shaggy hair and black eyes; but other than that, they were like night and day. It was crazy that people thought they resembled each other so much.

Just a few more turns and he'd be at the Guild. That was the only thing about taking the back roads. It took forever to get to where you're going.

"Hey kid..."

He stopped after hearing a scraggly voice nearby. He wasn't sure who the person was referring to, but he was the only 'kid' around. Surveying the area carefully, he took one hand out of his pocket and quickly wrapped it around a pair of numb chucks he kept hidden in the back of his pants.

He steadied his breathing to prevent his heart from racing inside his chest when footsteps from behind him were getting closer. He didn't want to assume ill intentions on the stranger's part, but he had to be careful. It was Ergastulum after all.

"What's a runt like you doing on our turf? Shouldn't you be in school somewhere?"

He felt his heavy breathing inches above his ear. He hated when people were close enough to breathe on him. Especially when their breath was hot and didn't smell too pleasant.

"Your turf? So you're one of Marco's men."

The guy laughed, causing him to flinch a little and spun around when his spit made contact with his flesh. His eyes widened at the sight of the red head with a slashed eye and rotten tooth. No wonder he didn't recognize his voice. He never seen the guy in his life!

He continued to laugh, spit flying out of his mouth. Raven was disgusted by the sight of it, but kept his cool in case he tried anything funny. It took him a minute, but when he pulled himself together he wiped a tear from his good eye and asked sarcastically, "Marco. Who the hell is that? Let me guess, he works for the Cristiano family."

"And you don't?"

 _Stupid question. Stupid question,_ he thought to himself.

"Fuck no! My gang's taking over this city, and you're trespassing."

He closed his eyes for a bit, contemplating his next move. It's obvious the creep wasn't going to let him go easily based on his stance, and the fact that he could tell just by looking at his blue eye he was itching to cause some type of trouble. He wasn't wearing any tags so it was safe to assume he was a Normal. He had to figure out a way to get out of this without things getting ugly.

"Well I didn't know this was your turf," letting go of his weapon, he opened his eyes and saw a mischievous grin on his face. "I was under the impression that this was Cristiano territory; plus, I had no idea I'd be trespassing just by taking a back street. So, I'll just be on my way then."

He turned on his heel to leave as quickly as he could, but the man had him by the elbow and was jerking him back towards him. "Woaw there son. I can't let you go just like that. I'd get in trouble with the boss if he found out I let a little punk like you get away."

His heartbeat began to speed up, and he breathed in and exhaled slowly to control it. He wasn't in the mood for a fight, but if he had to...

The man's crazed eye roamed his cold face all the way down to his feet. His grin grew wider as he kept eyeballing his boots. "Well I'll tell you what. Give me your shoes, and I'll let you go scott free."

"What? Hell no, you ain't getting my shoes!"

Raven tore his arm from his grasp and took a few steps back while the man snickered. He advanced towards him and Raven backed away slowly to make sure he wouldn't trip over anything. The look this stranger was giving him made his skin crawl. His eye had darkened, and he flicked his tongue and swiped it over his bottom lip. He reached back and grabbed his numb chucks again. If the guy was high off drugs or whatever, he might not need to use excessive force to take him down.

"Well then," his voice gotten raspier as he croaked, "if I can't have your shoes. Then I guess I'll have to take something else."

He lunged at him and Raven jumped high into the air. The chain that hung around his neck flew up revealing a set of dog tags with the letter and number C/0 showing, and the guy's face instantly became stricken with fear.

Meanwhile...

"Aw come on Chad. Killing a woman though," Worrick whined as he leaned against the squad car, "Not exactly how I planned on spending my Thursday morning."

"It has to be done. Those bastards need to be wiped out before they cause more trouble. I'd do it myself if I could, but my hands are tied," the Inspector told them in between puffs of his cigarette. But Worrick knew what he meant by "his hands are tied". The chief of the police had his eye on him, and that prevented him from doing his job how he wanted to.

That's why he called on the Handymen.

He took a drag of his cigarette and looked up at his partner who was sitting on top of the car. As usual, he looked so nonchalant. Nicolas was never hesitant when it came to fighting especially if he was given permission, but even he had his limits. Worrick couldn't quite tell his feelings about eliminating the woman who had been hanging out outside their home for the past few months. But if it was Shevon though...

"So do you want the gig or not?" Chad put out his cigarette and looked up at Nicolas who had a bored expression on his face then let out a low yawn.

He scoffed as Worrick examined the photo of the mysterious woman. He could just imagine running his strong fingers along her flawless, tanned skin. Brushing her dark locks away from her pretty face... and that body. It was a shame a woman like her got mixed in with Barry's gang.

"Yeah, we'll do it." Reluctance seeped into his voice and Nicolas began to make swift movements with his hands. He asked if it was okay for them to keep something from the job, and once Chad arched his eyebrow and gave a confused look, Worrick translated, "He wants to know if it's okay for us to keep a trophy."

"Yeah, just don't take anything that'll be missed. And don't worry about the bodies, I'll take care of it."

Nicolas hopped off the vehicle and landed next to his partner. He gave him a quick nod before leaving to complete the task. It was their biggest job in a while, and he was sure to do it right. Clutching the handle of his katana, he grinned menacingly and Worrick had a calm look plastered on his face.

It was on!


End file.
